Comparison

Folio vs IO reader

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Folio

Features
Read full description

Meet Ollie, your reading companion — and discover 75,000+ free books inside the most beautiful reading app on iOS. Folio makes reading feel like holding a real book. Warm cream pages, elegant serif fonts, realistic page turns, and a cozy reading experience designed for people who love books — not just screens. FREE BOOKS, BUILT RIGHT IN Browse 75,000+ public domain classics from Project Gutenberg and Standard Ebooks. Frankenstein, Pride and Prejudice, Moby Dick, Romeo and Juliet — all free, all beautifully formatted, all yours to keep. - Browse by genre: Fiction, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Romance, Philosophy, History, and more - One-tap download to your personal library - New books added regularly - No subscriptions. No hidden fees. Just great books. READING THAT FEELS REAL Every detail is designed to bring back the joy of physical books: - Warm cream, parchment, night, and midnight themes - Choose your font: Lora, Merriweather, Georgia, Literata, and more - Realistic page curl, smooth slide, or gentle fade transitions - Adjustable font size, spacing, and margins - Import your own EPUB and PDF files HIGHLIGHTS & NOTES YOU'LL ACTUALLY USE Never lose a great passage again: - Color-coded highlights (2 free, 7 with Premium) - Add notes to any highlight - Notes Hub: browse all highlights across all books in one place - Export to Notion, Obsidian, Apple Notes, or Markdown (Premium) SAVE ARTICLES FOR LATER Read web articles in Folio's beautiful reading view: - Save from Safari with the Share Sheet - Articles stripped clean — no ads, no clutter - Read offline, highlight, and take notes just like books MEET OLLIE Ollie the owl is your friendly reading companion. He'll help you find your next book, celebrate your milestones, and keep your reading life organized — without ever guilt-tripping you. FOLIO PREMIUM — $4.99, ONE TIME Unlock everything with a single purchase. No subscription. No recurring charges. - All 7 highlight colors - Smart highlight collections and tags - Export notes - Custom reading themes - Shelf view (wooden bookshelf) - Advanced reading stats and annual report - Custom OPDS catalog support - Unlimited Read It Later articles Download Folio free. Read beautifully. Keep your ideas forever.

About

IO reader

This app offers a focused reading experience for classic literature, presenting text in digestible units. It features an AI companion that prompts deeper thinking and provides context, along with tools for note-taking and vocabulary building. Users can access free classics or import their own DRM-free EPUBs.

Highlights
  • Focused reading modes (Reel, Cards)
  • AI-powered critical thinking companion
  • Access to thousands of free classics
  • Import personal EPUBs and web articles
  • Cross-device sync and note-taking
  • AI-powered search and recommendations (IO+)
Features
Read full description

Read deeper. Think sharper. Depth is becoming rare. The modern screen is built for speed, brevity, and interruption — training us to scan instead of study. IO is built for the opposite: a calm, focused place to read the books that reward attention, with an AI that challenges you to think rather than thinking for you. A NEW WAY TO READ IO strips the page down to a single unit of thought. • Reel — read one paragraph at a time, in a clean vertical flow. • Cards — move through a chapter one sentence at a time, for close, deliberate reading. No wall of text, no progress anxiety — just you and the words in front of you, for as long as they deserve. AN AI THAT ASKS MORE OF YOU Tap any passage and choose a companion. IO's personas don't summarize the book — they make you a sharper reader of it: • Critical Thinker — surfaces hidden assumptions and second-order implications • Interpreter — rewrites a difficult passage to match how you read • Questioner — asks escalating, Socratic questions • Historian · Philosopher · Psychologist · Rhetorician — read for context, ideas, motive, and craft • Vocab Coach · Quiz Master · Note-Taker · Futurist — for retention and study Twelve personas in all, each built to leave you sharper than the page found you. And the Translator carries any passage into ten languages without flattening its meaning. FIVE CENTURIES OF THE CANON Thousands of free public-domain classics, including hand-edited Standard Ebooks editions — Austen to Aurelius — beautifully typeset and presented like a magazine. A For You feed learns how you read, not just what, and points you to your next book. BRING YOUR OWN BOOKS Import your own DRM-free EPUBs — the open format used by Standard Ebooks and most independent publishers. (Books protected with DRM from other stores cannot be opened.) Save web articles to read later, too. Everything you add is yours to keep and read offline. THE REST OF THE INSTRUMENT • Cross-device sync — your place, saved passages, and library on every device • Like the passages that matter, attach notes, and keep them in your Keepsake Box • Reader-profile personalization that tunes the reading and the AI to you • Sign in with Apple — delete your account and all your data anytime, in the app • No ads. No clutter. Just reading. IO+ Go further with IO+: unlimited AI personas, AI-powered search and recommendations, and sync across all your devices. • IO+ Monthly or Annual • Payment is charged to your Apple ID at confirmation of purchase. • Subscriptions auto-renew unless turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel anytime in App Store settings. Terms of Use: https://ioreader.app/terms Privacy Policy: https://ioreader.app/privacy

Screenshots

Folio4 screens
IO reader4 screens

Verdict

The call

Folio and IO reader are too close to call on the numbers: across 5 compared parameters — price, ads, in-app purchases and device support among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Folio sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and IO reader sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
Folio versus IO reader: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFolioIO reader
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (6 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—6 — better
Update frequency—Every 5 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
Monetization—Freemium
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.0 — better18.2
Further details — not scored
Size13 MB31 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLaxman ShahKHHM LLC

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Folio

One-time1
  • Folio Plus Lifetime$4.99
2 purchases

IO reader

Subscriptions2
  • IO+ Monthly$2.991 Month
  • IO+ Annual$24.991 Year

Questions

Is Folio free?
Folio is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is IO reader free?
IO reader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Folio or IO reader have ads?
Neither Folio nor IO reader shows ads.

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